Morning Headlines

BHP in stadium park deal

The Barnett Government is set to announce a commercial partnership with BHP Billiton that would give the global mining giant naming rights to the precinct surrounding the new Perth Stadium. The West

P&N Bank seeking similar in tech world

WA’s biggest locally owned lender, P&N Bank, will scout potential partnerships and other investments to keep pace with the technological changes gripping the banking industry. The West

Property’s role in crash cycles in the spotlight

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s chief risk-watcher has challenged the focus of property-bubble obsessives on credit volumes, suggesting unsustainable bank lending can often lead to a blow up in commercial and business lending ahead of a mortgage collapse. The Fin

Clean power plants to get $350m push

Australia will get up to 10 new large solar power stations as part of an unprecedented $350 million tie-up between two major government renewable energy agencies. The Fin

Masters should dump timber, says expert

Hardware expert Geoff Dart, who first predicted massive losses at Masters, says the chain’s accumulated shortfall could reach $1.3 billion by 2020 and it needs to dump timber and tools and concentrate on carpets and tiles to become profitable. The Fin

Scaffidi to seek a third term

Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi will try to equal her predecessor Peter Nattrass’ 12-year stint at the top, declaring her plan for the city “is not yet completed”. The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page 3: The Reserve Bank of Australia’s chief risk-watcher has challenged the focus of property-bubble obsessives on credit volumes, suggesting unsustainable bank lending can often lead to a blow up in commercial and business lending ahead of a mortgage collapse.

Page 4: A pre-emptive strike by Tony Abbott to pressure Labor to fold over the China-Australia Free Trade has failed with the opposition demanding the Prime Minster sit down and negotiate rather than pull ‘‘stunts’’ in Parliament.

Page 5: A burst of co-operation by Labor in recent months has improved the federal budget by almost $30 billion over the next decade but the Coalition’s decision last week to scrap a proposed bank tax means gains could have been larger.

Page 8: Australia will get up to 10 new large solar power stations as part of an unprecedented $350 million tie-up between two major government renewable energy agencies.

Page 9: Wheat growers are expected to escape the worst effects of an El Nino cycle, according to the commodity forecaster, which raised production estimates after a soggier than expected winter, with more rain to come.

Page 15: Hardware expert Geoff Dart, who first predicted massive losses at Masters, says the chain’s accumulated shortfall could reach $1.3 billion by 2020 and it needs to dump timber and tools and concentrate on carpets and tiles to become profitable.

Virgin Group is ‘‘not interested’’ in selling any part of its 10 per cent stake in Virgin Australia Holdings, after having sold two large tranches of shares to Singapore Airlines and Etihad Airways in 2013, says chairman Sir Richard Branson.

Page 17: New Carsales.com chairman Jeffrey Browne, former Nine Network managing director, will look to further build on Carsales.com as the top vehicle classifieds player in Australia by strengthening relationships with car dealers and manufacturers, and leveraging its recent investments in Stratton Finance, RateSetter and AutoInspect in the private market.

Page 21: Singtel-Optus is increasing its data allowances on two high-end plans in readiness for the likely launch of Apple’s iPhone 6s on September 9 in a move that analysts say will crank up pressure on Telstra to boost its offers.

The Australian

Page 1: Unions are seeking to repeat their success in the Queensland and Victorian state elections by mobilising activists across the Western Australian seat of Canning in the hope of inflicting a shock defeat on the federal government that would put Tony Abbott’s leadership at risk.

The federal government’s headline indigenous jobs program, the most expensive component of the Indigenous Advancement Strategy, is costing a fortune to administer but failing badly, with fewer than half of 37,000 program participants fulfilling their mutual obligations.

Page 2: Australia trails two years behind Singapore, the US, Finland and even Thailand in teaching maths at primary school, an international educator warned yesterday.

Page 7: A treaty paving the way for uranium sales to India has received a green light from a key parliamentary committee but members cautioned that the trade should begin only after stringent conditions have been met.

Page 21: Profit growth for multinationals could slow from 5 per cent to 1 per cent in the next decade as a 30year golden age of falling costs and new market opportunities gives way to heightened competition from emerging market and technology-enabled firms, consultants McKinsey and Co have warned.

Page 23: The acquisitive Charter Hall Group has announced a dramatic near $1 billion lift in its funds management empire since the end of June, with the boost driven by about $700 million worth of industrial property purchases.

Page 27: Westpac said yesterday it now expected the dollar to end the calendar year at US66c, down from an earlier forecast of US70c.

The West Australian

Page 3: The Barnett Government is set to announce a commercial partnership with BHP Billiton that would give the global mining giant naming rights to the precinct surrounding the new Perth Stadium.

Punters will be swapping their binoculars for bathers this summer when Belmont Racecourse is transformed into Australia’s first pop-up water park.

Page 9: Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi will try to equal her predecessor Peter Nattrass’ 12-year stint at the top, declaring her plan for the city “is not yet completed”.

Page 10: The end of racing at Belmont Park is at the centre of a report recommending the biggest shake-up of the WA industry’s track assets.

Page 16: Tony Abbott and Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss are refusing to apologise to a WA cruise ship operator that says it was told to sack its Australian workers and hire foreigners to save money.

Page 22: A multimillion-dollar compensation payout from the State Government has helped John Kizon settle a long-running dispute with the tax office and stop it seizing his luxury Subiaco home.

Page 26: Liberal backbenchers are warning Tony Abbott that he faces more unrest if he ditches a plan to increase protection for small businesses from big retailers abusing market power.

Business: WA’s biggest locally owned lender, P&N Bank, will scout potential partnerships and other investments to keep pace with the technological changes gripping the banking industry.

Netflix’s march into Australian lounge rooms has continued, with new research suggesting 855,000 Australian homes now subscribe to the service.

CV Check had a uneventful first day of public trading, rising 1¢ above its raising price to finish the day at 21¢ a share.